I'm considering using a Mac Mini as a media centre computer and supporting it with a eyetv dongle. Does anyone have an opinion on it's ability to do so. eg. Noise, speed, Graphics power? If it's not going to cut it, is there an alternative? I'm not keen on the Apple TV given it's limitations out of the box.
View 7 RepliesI have a Mini Media center that I installed Front Row onto. When I updated to 10.4.11 I found that Front Row was broken and I finally figured out how to get it going again. I'm posting this simply for the spreading of knowledge. What you'll need:
Enabler [URL]
Front Row 1.3.0 [URL]
Front Row 1.3.1 [URL]
Pacifist [URL]
Installing: Put Front Row 1.3 package on desktop. (don't open) Open Enabler and Install Front Row. Enable Front Row (if you get an error you probably already have it enabled). <Restart> Use Pacifist to open FrontRow 1.3.1 package. Find Front Row App (System>Library>Core Services) Install the app and Replace when prompted.
Just wondering how many of you guys here have been using the new Mac Mini as a Media Centre mac, and what your general opinions of it are? I'm fairly sure there is HDMI, but is the media playback up to par, and how easy is it to use from the couch?
View 24 Replies View Relatedthis is my first post in here, I hope I've come to the right place I'm in the market for THE media center and though the Mini is very expensive I think it has a lot of potential. Well, this is what I need is there any way on the earth that I can have a media player application - namely Plex, Boxee, XBMC - to play 2 audio tracks simultaneously when watching a film? Thing is, I really like learning languages but my girlfriend doesn't, and man this seems to be the only way that I can imagine to keep my relationship while enjoying the original language films were shot. May I ask what the major drawbacks of this device are?
View 1 Replies View Relatedso i've been trying to use my 360 as a htpc to view media from around my network. I've run into some problems with it playing certain media formats as well as it not being able to see certain machines (those not running media center). Does a macmini running xbmc (or some other software) fare better in this regard than the 360? is the mac remote compatible with xbmc?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI have a quick question for all of you with two Apple notebooks (I've seen in many peoples signatures that they have two or more notebooks). I brought a 15" MacBook Pro last week and finally set it up on Monday, the idea was for it to replace my 2007 13" White MacBook! But now i've had a change of heart and don't really want to get rid! I'd like to keep it of I can find a use to justify doing so! Just wondering what everyone else uses a second notebook for?! I was considering using it as a media center and for around the house/coffee shop browsing (My new MacBook Pro's base gets to 40 degrees so can't see myself using it on my lap unfortunately)!
View 9 Replies View RelatedAre there any programs out there that I could send media to my Xbox 360 from the mac without having to go into boot camp and windows. I remember reading about something like this before but don't remember why or what it was called.
View 1 Replies View RelatedFor some reason my iTunes keeps snapping back to the center of my screen whenever I switch to mini-player. It used to snap the location wherever I had it before. For example, lets say I place the mini-player to the bottom right of my screen. If I were to switch to the full-size player to change something real quick, then swap it right back to mini-player mode, it would snap back to the bottom right of my screen. Now, whenever I switch from mini-player to full-size player, back to mini-player, it defaults back to the center of my screen...
View 1 Replies View RelatedMy Mac mini won't move past a white screen with apple logo in the center. What should I do?
Info:
Mac mini
I'm looking to centralize the media storage in our home and would love some feedback on which Mac Mini would best suit my needs, which are pretty modest. The goal is a machine that will:House all our media (iTunes, movies/tv) for streaming to two MBPs & one TV
Be the central location for Time Machine backups on all 3 computers
Run Air Video Server live conversion for streaming media to iPad
Run Plex for viewing media on attached HDTV
Ability to simultaneously stream media to TV in one room while live encoding HD source material for playback on iPad
Regardless of which Mini I end up with, my plan is to remove the Superdrive and install two 500GB Momentus XT hybrid hard drives (Raid 0?) with Time Machine backups for all the computers on external FW800 drives that I have. That said, will an early '09 Mini with the 2.0 C2D have enough horsepower, or do I need a current gen model?
I'm considering getting the base Mini and using it as a media hub to replace my AppleTV. I've hacked my AppleTV to run Netflix, Boxee, etc., but playback in Firefox can be slow. The only issue is the lack of Blu-Ray in the mini which would mean getting a Blu-Ray drive and cracking the mini open. Seems like a lot of work but it could replace my Sony Blu-Ray DVD player leaving only my Denon receiver, Cable box and Mac Mini.
View 4 Replies View RelatedWe just bought a mac mini with 2.5 GHz to act as our media server. We wanted to be able to stream, which it handles nicely. But now our desktop has fallen to disrepair and I am tempted to take the 2.5 Ghz mac mini as our desktop and buy a cheaper mac mini for our server. Will this work?
View 1 Replies View RelatedI just got a new 2010 mini to use for some web development, as well as a media streamer for my TV. I want to be able to stream standard and HD mkv/h.264 video from either the internal HD, external HD, or my server. Obviously, the internal HD should work well. My question is, would it be faster to stream from an external HD or my server? The server and mini are wired into the network via Gbit ethernet, and the external would be USB (or it could be FW800 if that would make a difference).
View 1 Replies View RelatedI've just bought a mac mini to run as a media centre. I want to connect it to my 40 inch LCD Samsung TV. I've tried all the preset resolutions and sizes but none of them seem to properly fit the TV, I loose about 2 inches on the top bottom and both sides. Any ideas how to get the Mac Mini to use all of the screen but keeping the resolution at 1080p (which the TV supports).
View 8 Replies View RelatedCurrently I stream media (videos only at the moment) through my older MBP C2D Laptop using PS3 Media Server. I find the PS3 is loud and annoying so thinking of picking up a new generation Mac Mini to run my Media Serving Needs. My Equipment list is:
Pioneer 5080HD 768p Plasma
Yamaha RX-V3900 AVR
The rest of the equipment does not really matter. Thinking of hokoing it up by HDMI through the AVR to the plasma. Want to run Plex as my media front end. Now I also have an Acer Windows Home Server box kicking around with 1TB drive in it. Is it possible to use that on the network as a type of Media Storage that can be accessed by the Mini through Plex? Should I just use the WHS box as an archive unit? I know I will fill up the mini's HD fairly quickly.
Also I usually watch 720p MKV files through my PS3 so would I be fine doing that on the mini as well using Plex?
I have a 2009 2.0 C2D Mac Mini that I upgraded to 4 GB RAM from the standard 1 GB RAM. It does not read CDs/DVDs or any other optical media. When I check the profiler for the SATA connection, I get:
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5670S:
Model:OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5670S
Revision:2AHF
Native Command Queuing:No
Detachable Drive:No
Power Off:No
Async Notification:Yes
When I check the profiler for disc burning, I get:
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5670S:
Firmware Revision:2AHF
Interconnect:ATAPI
Burn Support:Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache:2048 KB
Reads DVD:Yes
CD-Write:-R, -RW
DVD-Write:-R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies:CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds
It seems the controller is good and is seeing the DVD drive, but it just won't read anything included DVD movies and CDs that I bought off the shelf.
I would like to download talking books from my public library but cannot set up the OneClickdigital media manager software. When I try to download the Mac version the next page goes very briefly to the App Store followed by a a message saying "Cannot complete your rerquest."
Info:
Mac Mini
I'm thinking of getting a Mac Mini as an HTPC and for holding my iTunes library and AVI's. I currently have an upscaling DVD player that also has a USB socket for DivX stuff and would like access to my iTunes library also. I was thinking of simply adding an AppleTV to the set-up but I've been considering a Mini also. My questions are:
1) If I have a Mini in the living room with all my AVI's and iTunes stuff on it- can I Wake-On LAN it using a Mac laptop, my iMac or an AppleTV in another room to access my library if it's sleeping? If I wanna watch a movie in bed on an AppleTV I don't want to have to nip downstairs to wake my Mini 'cause it's power-saving.
2) Would a Mini work well as an iTunes media server? Not bothered about accessing it from the internet, just want access through wired and wi-fi within the house.
3) Could I control the Mini remotely from the iMac or laptop over the network to save connecting a keyboard/mouse to it? For example if I need to perform a software update or move some files? I can do that over the network with another Mac, right? Sort of remote desktop?
4) Could I control the Mini, purely for playback, from Remote on an iPod Touch?
5) Is there a hack/fix/workaround to add AVI's (DivX and xVid) to Front Row? I understand these wouldn't be playable on the AppleTV.
I've tried searching for individual answers to the above but it's a bit confusing. I'm not sure of the difference between Back To Mac or Apple Remote Desktop. And I'm not sure about the WOL stuff either.
I recently changed the iTunes Media Folder default location to a different area on my drive. I waited a couple minutes and the files did not move. I was unaware you had to go into your settings and also select to consolodate files. Since the files didn't move I reselected my default location and kept trying to go back and forth a couple times. After letting it sit for a couple more minutes I noticed over 200 GB's of files were missing. I looked in each folder I tried to change the default Media Folder location to but they were not in either of them. I have also ran multiple system file recover programs and been unable to find them.
Info:
MacBook
Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
If you can stream the Mac as a media server on your PS3 just like how it does on Windows for Windows Media Player....
View 11 Replies View RelatedI just got my Mac back from the shop. I left my login password with them so they could go in, fix it, and do what they have to do. Now that I have it back, the following things have changed:
- My account, started by me protected by that password, now AUTOMATICALLY logs in at startup.
- They created a new account, known as 'Other...'
- The login password, which I've always used, no longer works when I need to unlock settings changes.
What should I do?
Running Leopard 10.5.8, 15" MacBook Pro with an additional Apple Display. Plugged into projector � the resolution/display went bonkers/everything was thrown off-center The resolutions are accurate for both screen and display Software is kept updated/Repaired permissions The screen and display are off-center by about 2 inches in width and and 1 inch in height I can move about the screens to bring my dock and/or menu bars into view, but they are no longer fitting into the confines of the screen/display
View 4 Replies View RelatedI just upgraded the OS on my iPhone 4 and now find I have an annoying app called Game Center.
I don't play games and would like to remove this, but so far have found no way to do so.
Can someone advise of a safe and reliable way to dump this piece of malware?
Is the apple game center down
View 10 Replies View Relatedjust perchase mountain lion and can't figure out how to activate the notification center
Info:
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
This is all I have on my notification centre! Can I add more like on the website?
Info:
MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)
how you can add apps to the notification centre? I know if you visit a website for the first time it gives you a choice to add it or not but what if you said no but now you want to add the app. How do I do that?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI need to centre a paragraph for a title page in Word, and know how to do it under Windows, but can't find the same options for the Mac.
View 2 Replies View RelatedActual Logitech MX Mouse software does not work with new Snow Leopard, any news on new version available
View 4 Replies View RelatedI have a Logitech Anywhere MX mouse and it is great with my Mac. Out of the box, it "just works" to about 95% of what I need. The button on top initiates Expose which is what I want. The "back" button initiates dashboard. I would rather have the back button be, well, back, and the forward button initiate dashboard. To do this I think I need to install the Logitech software - Logitech Control Center.
So, my question, is it worth it? I'm kind of a minimalist and prefer to not put software on my computer unless it is absolutely necessary. If the LCC is considered bloat (or even halfway bloat) it won't be worth it to me.
